Your pelvic floor plays a big role in keeping certain organs safe. When it starts to weaken, you may start to experience symptoms such as leaking urine. If that weakening progresses, you're at risk of developing conditions such as pelvic or bladder prolapse. Fortunately, there are a few lifestyle changes that can benefit your pelvic floor.

Losing Weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is one of the easiest ways to protect your pelvic floor muscles. If your BMI is currently higher than it should be, start looking at ways to reduce a few pounds. Carrying less weight overall reduces the amount of pressure placed on your pelvic floor each day. Additionally, other areas of your health will see the benefits too. Maintaining a normal weight is a great way to reduce your overall risk factor for a variety of diseases.

Choosing the Right Exercise

In the course of losing weight, make sure you choose the right exercises for your pursuit. While activities such as HIIT and trampolining are great for blasting through calories, they may make symptoms such as urinary leakage worse. Instead, try focusing on exercises that help you burn calories while supporting your pelvic floor muscles. For example, swimming and power walking could help strengthen these muscles. If you want to dedicate time to supporting those muscles, try yoga and pilates. Your family health centre may be able to recommend classes that specifically support the pelvic floor muscle group.

Balance Your Fluids

Going to the toilet is unavoidable. If you find that you're consistently straining due to constipation, you'll need to increase your fluid intake to soften your stools. Your colon absorbs enough water to keep your body going. As such, if you're not getting enough in the first place you may be hardening your stools. This can result in constipation, and when you strain as you go to the toilet, you may weaken your pelvic floor. Additionally, you may want to cut back on the drinks that excite your bladder, such as caffeine and energy drinks.

Try Physiotherapy

As well as lifestyle changes, consider using pelvic floor physiotherapy. This type of physiotherapy will help you refine the exercises that can strengthen your pelvic floor. Your physiotherapist will also assess whether other muscle groups need attention so they can support your pelvic floor too. By following their treatment plan and making some lifestyle changes, you can keep your pelvic floor healthy and reduce your risk of uncomfortable prolapses.